Lamentations 5

A Prayer For Restoration

Here in the final chapter of Lamentations the prophet Jeremiah sums up what has happened to God’s people. In vs. 2-13 we see what the people of Judah have faced; abandonment, thirst, poverty, exile, invasion, famine, slavery, rape, humiliation, and exhaustion. In the next few verses we see the emotional pain that all this hardship has caused(vs. 14-18). Why did they have to suffer all of this? They believed a lie!

All sin, big and small, is based on a lie. The very first sin in the Garden of Eden was based on a lie. “You will not surely die. You will become like God…” said Satan to Eve. Sin promises pleasure but produces separation from God. Sin looks good on the outside but leaves you broken and empty in need of something more. This is exactly the place that the people of Judah are at right now. Their sin has brought them to the place that they are at. This can happen to any one of us. All we have to so is believe the lie.

In vs. 16 Judah laments “woe to us for we have sinned.” This could be translated “if only we had never sinned.” He gets it. The lie has been exposed and it would have been better for them if they had not sinned. This a strong warning for us. Life will be better if you do not sin! I know we can not be perfect, but actively ask God to search you and reveal any sin in your life and get rid of it.

Are you playing around with sin right now? Everyday the world is lying to you through TV, Movies, Music, school, and even your friends. Don’t believe it. Don’t give in to it. Hold your ground and rely on the Truth that is revealed to us in the Bible! It will be better if you do not sin.

Lamentations 4

When the leaders fail

Lamentations is not an easy book to read. It is full of laments from the prophet Jeremiah about God’s people and the struggle that they are facing. Chapter 4 is especially difficult to read because it shows how low the people have gone. The gold from the temple had no value, the young men were regarded as nothing, and there was severe hunger. The hunger was so bad in fact, that mothers were eating their own children. This is where rejecting God has brought them. This is where sin had led them. Who was to blame?

All of us definitely have a responsibility when it comes to our relationship with the Lord and the people of Judah are no exception. But, Jeremiah places a lot of the blame on the prophets and the kings because they are the ones who led the people away from the Lord. Priest’s, Prophets(except for Jeremiah), and Kings shed innocent blood(vs. 13) and were fooled by their enemies(vs. 20) which led the people away from God.

Today pastors and elders are directly over us and leading us but Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king. Though men may fail, Jesus won’t. Though God’s anointed will let you down, Christ will not. He is our prophet by leading us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit and showing us His will for salvation. He is our priest by His sacrifice of Himself to satisfy God’s divine justice and to reconcile us to God. He is our King by ruling and protecting us and defeating all His and our enemies.

It is important that we view Jesus as our main leader. When we put a pastor or elder in the place of Jesus as priest, King, or prophet we stop looking to Jesus for all that we need. We end up basing our belief’s on what the pastor says instead of what the Bible says. This is not to say that we should ignore what pastor’s say. God uses these men to guide and direct His people. But ultimately our leader is Jesus and He will never fail us!

Lamentations 3

The book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah. In this book he laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and the wickedness of God’s people. In this chapter he complains that God ignored his prayers, “though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;” (V8) Do you ever feel like Jeremiah? That God isn’t answering your prayers or that God isn’t even hearing your prayers?

When we pray in God’s will like Jeremiah was, all his prayers were heard by God, it just wasn’t in the timing Jeremiah would like. That’s how God works, He is always on His own timetable. Take Zechariah and Elizabeth in the beginning of the book of Luke for example. They were praying constantly for a child, maybe even to the point of giving up, thinking God isn’t hearing their prayers. But what happens when the angel appeared to Zechariah, “But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son…’” (V13)

See when we pray, all of our prayers make it to heaven, they will exist in heaven until the time comes where God will fulfill our prayers in His perfect timing. Zechariah’s prayers were in heaven with the Father until the right time would come for him to bear the one who would prepare the way for Messiah. We need to never give up on prayer, Zechariah was worn out of praying and he didn’t think he would have a child, so the angel shut him up. When we fail to believe that God answers prayer we will be silent, we will be dull, we will be dumb. Let’s fill heaven with our prayers.

Pray expecting God to do great things. Know your prayers will be with God until He has them to come to pass in His perfect timing. We need to have the same attitude Jeremiah has in the latter part of this chapter where he says, “‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.’” (V24) See this is the catch, our prayers will only come to pass if they are in the will of God. How do we know what’s in the will of God? You make Him your portion, you hope in Him. What’s your portion today? is it some guy, girl, addiction? Or is it the maker of Heaven and Earth? We need to be people who hope in Him and pray expectantly and never give up.